New Iraqi Lawmakers Want Out Of OPEC Deal

Some newly elected Iraqi lawmakers, linked with populist Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr whose alliance won the elections last month, are not sure that Baghdad’s participation in the OPEC production cut deal is good for the country. Some new members-elect of Iraq’s parliament think that Iraq should be able to export as much crude oil as it wants, newly elected lawmakers and politicians allied to al-Sadr’s political bloc have told S&P Global Platts in interviews. The alliance of al-Sadr, who has very difficult relationships with the United States, scored a surprise victory in Iraq’s elections on May 12. The alliance won 54 seats in the 329-seat Parliament, so it will need to form a coalition to govern. Al-Sadr himself can’t be named prime minister because he didn’t run in the elections. Second in the vote came Iranian-backed militia leader Hadi al-Amiri, while the current Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi’s coalition was […]